Interesting premise but disappointing execution

This book had a really great and unexpected premise (warning: spoilers) with a mysterious pyramid constructed by something non-human, missing love interest, spies and subterfuge, but even with all that it felt like the narrative missed the mark. There was never any suspense or any fear that something might happen to the main characters. There wasn't any character growth. Even the introduction of a female lead was disappointing and one (irritating) note. Rafe continued his rather pompous 'witty' narration and by the end I was so tired of it. It just felt all the key "beats" of the story were skipped over (What was the pyramid built to shoot down? Why is everyone so blase about the fact it's clearly non-human in origin? If it's so loud as to be borderline unbearable, why were nobody's ears damaged or ringing? Why were there no traps or puzzles if the creator went to the trouble of hidden doors and air defense? Why are Rafe and Ned so stagnant in terms of character development?) and so much emphasis was put on things literally nobody cares about like how they put a tent up or how many chickens they purchased and stored for eating. It feels like there was a lot of potential but in the end just a rather flat and prolonged camping trip. If you enjoyed the first 2 books you'll love this one, and I really WANTED to love it, but ended up feeling like the plot's potential was missed.

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